Youth Summit

In September 2011, LEAD and the SpeakUp! Prevention Coalition, in collaboration with the Women’s Health Advisory Council of Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and other community organizations, facilitated the first annual Youth Summit. A random sampling of approximately 100 high school students were invited to partake in an all day “summit” in which trained, unbiased facilitators asked questions of the participants. The goal was to obtain the true opinions of the students with regards to their social and emotional well-being, identifying their stressors, pressure points, worries, needs, and concerns. The latter part of the day allowed the students to brainstorm solutions to any struggles they identified.

We are pleased to announce the compilation of now our third annual “Youth Summit” to take place on September 17, 2013. Ty Sells, from Youth 2 Youth International, will again be our facilitator. The 2013 Youth Summit will include about 100 randomly selected 8th grade students from six schools in three communities. In addition, there will be a “Community Forum,” held in the evening, with invitees to include youth workers, school administrators and community leaders to hear about the findings of the day of brainstorming. Students will present their solutions to the issues identified during the daytime session. Stay tuned, as more details will be forthcoming as the date draws near.